New Venturi valve cuts retraction time for single acting cylinders

27 March, 2018

High pressure, hydraulic cylinder maker, Enerpac, announces a new Venturi valve to speed up the retraction time for single-acting, spring and load return cylinders after lifting projects. Attached to an electric pump, the valve allows cylinder retraction as much as three times faster than conventional manual methods; independent of load.

Enerpac comments that, until now, retracting single acting cylinders to their original closed position has been time consuming and labourious using a combination of gravity, applying a load, and (optional) spring, to force the hydraulic oil out of the cylinder and back into the reservoir.

By routing pump flow through the Venturi valve, it creates a vacuum-like effect in the pump system drawing the oil from the cylinder back to the pump’s reservoir at a much faster rate and increasing the retraction speed of the plunger by up to three times.

Fred Weber, commercial marketing manager, Enerpac EMEAI, said: “The Venturi valve has been developed by Enerpac in response to users’ requests for a quicker way of retracting hydraulic cylinders especially on-site. Often there is little available space above the cylinder once the load has been removed which can mean waiting for gravity to take effect. The Venturi valve is a far quicker alternative.”

Venturi valves are supplied as retrofit kits to upgrade Enerpac pumps and available in both manual and electric configurations.

High tonnage cylinders

Venturi valves are an excellent choice for improving the efficiency of high tonnage cylinders where the retraction speed may be slower than desired. Also, for those instances when the load is removed from a cylinder and the plunger will not fully retract without additional equipment to force the plunger back into the base of the cylinder.